Without Him
by Ellie603
Summary: After the Battle of Hogwarts, George isn't sure what to do. Fred is gone, and George is completely lost without him. George has to turn to his family and friends for help and support, particularly Angelina Johnson, who becomes more and more important to the now lone Weasley twin.
1. After The Battle

_A/N: This just popped right into my head and I had to write it down and see what happened. _

_Tons of thanks to Linnea, who offered to beta this for me as soon as I told her I had started working on it and to Amanda who was the first person to read this (even though her initial feedback was 'i hate you.')._

_Obviously the characters and the world belong to JKR, and it's a gift that she lets us play around with it all._

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><p>George stood near the front of the Great Hall. Harry had just defeated Voldemort, and the entire hall was filled with cheers and celebration. George however, couldn't bring himself to partake in anything. Fred wasn't with him, and he would never be again.<p>

George watched as McGonagall took charge, fixing the house tables and sending the house elves to the kitchens to prepare a celebratory feat. Those who had lost loved ones were throwing glances to the row of dead at the top of the hall where the high table normally sat, but no on came up to grieve as they had done earlier. George was sure they would later, but the jubilation of You-Know-Who's defeat was keeping everyone as close to the day's heroes as possible. They all wanted to be near Harry. George was certain that Harry would only wish to be alone, knowing what he had just been through, but George couldn't help him. Harry was still at the back of the Hall and George stood alone at the front.

George turned to move closer to Fred's body; he couldn't imagine being far away from him, particularly now. But suddenly, he felt a hand close over his upper arm and stopped to turn around and see his older brother Percy standing with the faintest trace of a smile on his lips. Percy's eyes were still red from crying, just as George assumed his own eyes must be.

"George, Mum wants us to come to the end of the hall and sit together, our whole family," said Percy steadily. George could still hear the sadness in his voice.

"Oh," George responded distantly, "right. But I wanted to see…" George trailed off as he looked over to where Fred's body lay.

Percy smiled sadly. "I know, but Mum really wants us to be together now. You can see him later; we all will." George could tell his brother was near tears again, but that he was being strong for George. Losing Fred had been a terrible blow for George's newly returned brother.

"Okay," said George, resigned, "would you give me a minute though? I just really need to be alone right now."

Percy nodded, walked a ways away, and then stopped, clearly waiting for his brother to come with him when he was ready. George greatly appreciated the gesture, just as he had appreciated how Percy held back tears for George moments before. Percy seemed to know that if George saw anyone begin to cry over Fred, George would inevitably start crying himself.

Just then, George remembered with a pang that Percy had been with Fred when he was… George couldn't finish the thought. But Percy had been there and so had Ron, Harry, and Hermione. That was all George knew. At the time, all that mattered to George was that his twin, his best friend, was gone. He suddenly realized he wanted to know how Fred had… died… George almost cried as he finally thought the phrase, but he did want to know. He _needed_ to know. Had Fred left the world in a manner befitting a Weasley twin? Meaning, of course, had he left the world laughing and joking. If he had, then the… death… was fitting.

George slowly walked over to his older brother who was looking around at the opposite end of the hall. George put his hand on Percy's shoulder and Percy looked over at him quickly.

"Are you alright?" he asked, concerned.

"Yeah," said George, not sure if it was true, "But can I ask you one thing Percy?"

"Sure…" responded Percy, a bit confused at what George would want to ask him.

"How-," George began, but stopped. He breathed in sharply, "How did Fred," he paused again. "How did Fred die? I mean I know there was a curse and everything, but what was he doing… what were his last words?"

George glanced at his older brother. Percy was smiling sadly, but his eyes were glistening with tears.

"Well," began Percy, "Fred and I, we were each dueling a Death Eater, and then the one I was dueling, his hood fell down and it was Thicknesse, and so I joked to Thickness that I was resigning, and-"

George cut him off. "Wait, you _joked_ about something?" George stared at Percy as if something was wrong with him.

Percy laughed quietly. "Yes, I was joking. He –Fred- couldn't believe it either. He stunned his Death Eater and jokingly asked if _I _was joking, and then when he realized that I was he started laughing and then he said 'You actually _are_ joking, Perce…. I don't think I've heard you joke since you were-'" Percy fell silent and George knew what had happened then. Neither brother spoke for a moment.

"So he was laughing?" said George, breaking the silence.

"He was laughing," affirmed Percy. "It…. it was the way he would have wanted to go. I think."

"It was." George agreed, and suddenly he found his eyes were swimming with tears. He tried desperately to blink them back, but it was no use. He looked up at Percy through his tears and saw that his older brother had started crying as well; tears running thickly down his face. And then George reached out hugging him. The two men began crying on each other's shoulders. George felt slightly pitiful, but he needed the comfort of his older brother who was facing the same thing as he was.

When George regained his composure enough to stop crying and wipe the tears from his face with the sleeve of his robes, he broke away from the hug, leaving Percy still crying quietly.

"Perce," George said softly," you know what Fred would say to us if he were here?"

"He'd probably call me a prat wouldn't he?" Percy responded, laughing through his tears. "And he'd say he expected better of you than to stand around crying."

"He would say that." George shook his head. "Merlin, I…" He paused, "I miss him, Perce, I really miss him."

"I do too, George. I do too."

The brothers stood there for a moment before George spoke. "Well, Mum's probably wondering where we are, don't you think?" George was trying desperately to take his mind off of Fred.

"I'm sure she is," Percy agreed, clearly trying to do the same.

The men began walking down the length of the hall to where their family sat. On one side of the table, was Charlie with Bill next to him and Fleur on Bill's other side. Across from Bill, Charlie, and Fleur sat George's mother with his father on one side of her and Ginny on the other. Ginny's head rested on her mother's shoulder. Sitting beside his dad, George saw Ron, with Hermione next to him, leaning into his side.

"Are they finally together?" George muttered to Percy while motioning to Ron and Hermione. Percy simply shrugged. George decided he would need to find this out. He and Fred had always been big supporters of Ron and Hermione finally doing the world a favor by removing the sexual tension and getting together. In fact, the two brothers had had a bet on about it.

Back in August, right before the wedding, when the twins knew that Ron, Hermione, and Harry would be leaving soon, Fred had bet George 10 galleons that Ron and Hermione would be officially together by the next time the twins saw them. George took the bet. If they were together now, George lost, unless they had gotten together sometime during the battle. George thought this was a fairly plausible possibility, and he now really wanted to find out for sure.

When Percy and George reached the table, they took the seats next to Charlie, opposite Ron and Hermione.

"George, Percy, are you both alright?" asked George's mother, concerned and tense. Her face was weary and battle worn, Fred's loss had been as bad for her as it had been for George.

"We're fine, Mum, we're fine." Percy answered for both of them, offering a comforting pat on his mother's hand. She visibly relaxed with Percy's assurance and turned back to her daughter with whom she had been conversing quietly. Percy immediately joined in discussing with their father, who looked older than George had ever seen him, about the future of the Ministry. The Ministry had never been an interesting topic for George, and it was even less so now. He turned, instead, to the pair across from him.

"Are you two together then?" he asked Ron and Hermione, "officially?"

"Er…" started Hermione, turning faintly pink, "well…"

"Yeah, we are," interjected Ron, his face redder than Hermione's. George saw a faint smile pass between the two of them.

"FINALLY!" George was grinning wider than he had in hours. "Glad to hear it! Since when?"

"Since… well… since a couple of hours ago, I suppose," said Ron thoughtfully, looking at Hermione, who hurriedly, and semi-embarrassedly nodded her agreement.

"Wait, so after you'd seen me right?" George checked.

"Yeah…" Ron replied, confused. "Why does it matter if we'd seen you?"

"We had a bet!" George stated triumphantly. "I said you wouldn't get together until after we saw you next, as opposed to you getting together while you were off on your mission thing with Harry, which was what Fred-" George stopped at Fred's name. How could George care about winning a silly bet if the person he'd made it with was… well gone. George looked away and around at the rest of the hall. Ron and Hermione said nothing. George saw his close friend Lee sitting beside Alicia at the next table over. Lee had his arm around her and she was leaning into him. It seemed Angelina wasn't actually the right girl for Lee to be chasing after. But that thought reminded George of something else, _where was Angelina? _George quickly scanned the hall and finally found her at the same table as him, closer to the end, sitting alone with her head lying on her arms. George knew she needed someone to be with her right now, and he realized he wanted to be that someone. She and Fred casually dated during sixth and seventh year. More than that, she was a good friend to both twins; therefore, George knew she would understand his pain and anguish. His family understood what it was like to lose Fred as a brother, but only his friends would know how it felt to lose Fred as a friend.

George turned to Ron and Hermione, both of whom were looking at him with concern etched into their faces.

"I'm going to go see Angelina," he said to the couple," I want to see how she's doing." He gestured down the table to where Angelina sat alone.

"That's probably a good idea," said Hermione, nodding.

George stood and his mother glanced up at him nervously, as if expecting him to run away.

"I'm just going to talk to Angelina," George assured his mother who took in a breath and nodded slowly. "I'll be back in a bit."

"We'll be here," said his mother shakily.

George affirmed he understood her with a quick nod and he slowly walked away from his family, toward Angelina.

When he reached her, he placed his hand on Angelina's shoulder. She looked up, startled. Tear tracks were clearly visible on her face and her normally pulled back bundle of braids was spilling all around her face. She seemed surprised to see George there, and looked away quickly.

"Can I sit down?" George asked kindly as she avoided his gaze. She nodded and George sat.

"How're you doing Angelina?" George began what would surely be a difficult conversation.

"I'm fine, a bit shaken, but I'm fine." While speaking Angelina was using her robes to remove the remnants of tears from her face. George didn't believe the calm 'I'm fine' that Angelina gave him in the slightest. Gaining more composure, she turned to face him fully for the first time. "The real question, George, is how are _you _doing?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," said George looking down, avoiding her gaze.

"I know you, George Weasley," she attacked, "and I know you're lying."

"Well if I'm lying, Miss Johnson," George responded with a hint of his usual joking tone peeking through, "then I'm pretty sure you are too."

Angelina looked sheepish. "Well then…" Neither Angelina nor George knew what to say next, so the two sat in silence or a few moments and George took to scanning the Hall. Once again, his eyes fell on Lee and Alicia.

"Since when are those two together?" he asked Angelina, pointed to the couple at the other table. "I can't believe Lee didn't tell us-me." George corrected himself. He was so used to saying 'us,' meaning himself and Fred, saying 'me' just sounded odd. He pushed the thought out of his mind. Lee and Alicia was a safe and Fred-free topic. He wanted to have a few moments not dwelling on the tragedy that was weighing heavily on both George and Angelina's minds. Discussing Lee and Alicia seemed the best way to do that.

"Oh," said Angelina, at bit surprised at George's topic of choice. "Alicia and I have been living together; Lee needed a place to hide out a month or so ago, so he came to live with us. Lee had finally given up on me, thank Merlin." Angelina gave a small laugh that almost sounded like her old self, but not quite. "And I guess he finally realized that he and Alicia had something. She's my best friend. She'd always sort of liked him, well always liked him or you."

George smiled slightly, remembering his past thoughts of possibly dating Alicia, none of which had amounted to anything.

Angelina continued, "But, of course, she knew all through school he was a bit obsessed with me, so she never really got her hopes up for anything. But, as he was living with us and realized that he and I weren't meant to be together," Angelina laughed again, "things just finally worked out. It was the one good thing they got out of this horrible war, each other."

Angelina looked thoughtful. "Merlin, it's all over isn't it? The war, the suffering, everything. I can't believe it. We can go on with our lives. Me and Alicia can get real, good jobs, we can get married… It's all safe now isn't it?" She looked up at George, her eyes shinning with joy rather than tears, but George couldn't share in that happiness. Fred wasn't there to share in that happiness. Fred was gone and George was alone. George looked down at the table. He couldn't think of a single thing to do or say that wouldn't leave him with hurt, pain, and suffering, even if Angelina said it was all over. As he stared down at the polished wood of the table, George felt Angelina's hand on his back, comforting him.

"I know how you feel, George." Angelina spoke in a soft and soothing voice, almost a whisper. "He was… he was one of my best friends." Angelina's face, so happy a moment before, fell. She looked sad and lost. Her eyes, so recently shining with happiness, were full of tears. She was biting her lip to keep from crying.

George began taking in great rattling, shuddering breaths. He was, once again, holding back tears.

"I… I…" George couldn't find the words to express to Angelina what he was feeling. "I don't know how to live without him," he said finally. And then the dam broke; the tears he had been holding back burst forth like a river. Angelina, as if on cue, began sobbing as well. George reached out and clutched her in a tight hug as though he needed her to keep him there, and he felt Angelina's arms grip him just as tightly. The two friends sat crying into each other for several minutes.

George couldn't believe how many times he'd broken down crying in the last few hours. George _never _cried. He and Fred had always laughed their way though everything. Their policy was that only through happiness and laughter could things turn out okay. But now… George felt like the complete opposite of a Weasley twin. There were tears instead of laughter. No desire to be in a large crowd of people. And really, how could he be a Weasley twin anymore? There was no more "Weasley twins." Fred was gone. And George had absolutely no idea how to function as a single unite. He needed Fred. Fred was his best friend, his brother, George's other half.

This thought made George hug Angelina even tighter, but after a moment she removed herself from George's embrace. Her face was again covered in tear tracks. She'd stopped crying, unlike George who had no idea how to do such a thing. Looking up at her, George saw Angelina grin through his tears.

"I was just thinking," began Angelina, "about what Fred would do if he saw this." She began to laugh, "He'd hex you for crying, don't you think? And he'd tell me to suck it up and be the Quidditch Captain I used to be." Angelina stopped laughing and shook her head. "I'll miss that… I really will… And I know you'll probably miss it quite a bit more than I will. But we all have each other. You have me, Lee, Alicia, and your entire family. We're all here for you. I guess that's how we'll have to survive now, relying on each other. We can't fall apart at the memories we have of him; we need to be strong for each other and be strong for Fred. He would want us to mourn a little, but he'd also want us to celebrate and to stand by the great Weasley tradition of laughter and joke telling. I think most of all, he'd want you know to you _can_ go on without him. That if you really do need him, he'll always be there in your memories and within you, helping you along. You're still a Weasley twin, with or without Fred. You'll be okay, George."

George had stopped crying. Angelina seemed to have known exactly what he was thinking and her words were helping more than anything anyone had said to him since Fred's death. He could live through this. He could survive with this. He would need everyone's help along the way, but Angelina was right. He would be okay.

He smiled at her, "You're right, Angelina."

"Of course I am," Angelina stated matter-of-factly, smiling back at George. "Would you like to go see Lee and Alicia? The George I know would never pass up an opportunity to tease friends about a relationship."

George smiled, feeling lighter and freer. It was nice to have someone say out loud that they were all there for him. He'd known it all along, but having Angelina state it made it more real and more true.

"Fantastic idea, Angelina," George said laughing. "I do love teasing people about relationships… It's always pretty fun. But I want to stop and talk to Mum first, she's having a hard time."

Angelina nodded seriously, "Well, I'll walk over to Lee and Alicia and you can meet us over there."

George nodded and walked over to his mother, his father and older brothers were gone. George could see them with Kingsley and other Ministry workers in a group down the Hall. Ron and Hermione disappeared as well, probably off with Harry, since George could not find the day's hero anywhere in the Hall. Ginny and Fleur both still sat at the table and were engaged in a friendly conversation, getting along better than George had ever seen them. His mother was not participating in the conversation; she merely watched the two women and listened. She looked up when she heard George approach. She stood and held out her arms. George stepped forward and was enveloped in a large, motherly hug.

"Are you okay, Georgie?" she asked when she released him, still clearly worried about her son.

"Yeah, Mum," George responded, "we've all got each other, and that's what matters now." His mother gave a small smile at his words.

"But actually Mum, I've just remembered. You and Bellatrix! That was BRILLIANT! I can't believe you finished her off! That was definitely the proudest moment in Weasley history." His mother's smile grew larger.

"Well_ someone_ had to do it, so why not me?" she was glowing with pride.

"It was amazing, Mum. Really amazing." His mother hugged him quickly.

"Are you going to sit down here with us, George?"

"No, I'm going to talk to Lee, Alicia, and Angelina for a bit. I'll come back over when I'm done."

"Okay, Georgie, we'll wait for you here."

George nodded, "Thanks Mum. See you in a bit."

As George walked over to his friends, Angelina looked up and locked eyes with George, who grinned. She smiled back and George felt a contentment flow over him. He had friends to help him through everything and a loving family that would do the same. George realized that he was very lucky. Even though he had to go on without Fred, this was probably the easiest way to get through it.

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><p><em>AN: I hope you like it! Reviews would be awesome! Thanks guys!_


	2. Starting Over

_A/N: Well... this is a little bit sad. I posted the first chapter of this last July, originally it was going to be something completely different, but by the end I figured I'd just leave it as a one-shot. However, a friend of mine asked me to keep writing, and, since I had more ideas, I did. I wrote maybe half of this last August, and I really could have put it up then, I even started typing it, but I didn't. I was busy with school, and I just never got around to it. A few weeks ago, I got bored and started reading other fanfiction, and then I remembered I had to finish typing up this. So I did. When I started this last summer, I didn't actually know where I was going with everything, but now I actually know how I want to end this story, so hopefully that helps me actually keep writing. I really don't want it to be another year before I put up Chapter 3._

_Special thanks to Toby, who was so amazing and made me keep writing this last summer._

_And of course, this is JKR's world, not mine, and there's a Fred quote in there that's hers too. :-)_

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><p>George sat on the sofa at the Burrow. He was alone, like he had been for the majority of the past few days. A week had passed and things had gotten better, but George still missed Fred more than he had ever missed anything in his entire life. He felt like there was a hole somewhere inside of him that he couldn't fix, but still; he was surviving. Like Angelina had said, he had his family and friends to help him through it all, and he had been relying heavily on all of them.<p>

There had been a small funeral for Fred a few days after the battle, as well as a large memorial service held by the Ministry for the fifty-some wizards who had lost their lives in the Battle. George had cried at both events, just like everyone else. Several thousand witches and wizards attended the memorial service, and there was not a dry eye in sight. Even ever-composed Kingsley, the newly elected Minister of Magic, had to fight through his sobs as he gave the final goodbye to the fallen, thanking them for what they had done for both the wizarding and muggle worlds.

George had not been able to do much of anything since the service. He was unable to return to the joke shop, as there was too much of "Fred" in the store. The twins had started it together, created all the products together, run it together. Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was theirs, not just George's. George had not been able to think too hard about the future of the joke shop. Instead, he focused on other things. He helped his mother with housework, teased Ron and Hermione, talked to Angelina; he would do anything to keep his mind off his twin. The only person he ever discussed Fred with specifically was Angelina, but those discussions did not happen every day, and when they did occur, they were short and sad.

Since George was now staying at his parents' house, rather than the flat above the shop, he was continually surrounded by family and friends. With them came comforting words and gestures that George appreciated to an extent, but some days everything was just a bit too overwhelming, and all he wanted to do was be alone or with Angelina.

Angelina came over every afternoon now, and she had become the person he relied on the most and who he trusted to understand him. Their shared tragedy had brought the two friends together and had made their friendship closer than it had ever been.

Percy had also become more important to George. George's brother had known the twins extremely well, despite his disapproval of many of their pursuits. He was, after all, only two years older than them and had spent much of his time, both at Hogwarts and at home, with the duo. In addition to this, Percy's return from his time being, as Fred had called him, "a ministry-loving, family-disowning, power-hungry moron" had caused Percy to become more committed to the family than he had ever been before. Now Percy was always there to help his mother, or his father, or any of his siblings. George liked this new and improved Percy, and he was quite glad to have him, for George's own sake and for the sake of the family, their mother in particular.

George's mum wasn't doing too well. She was holding herself together, but George saw her cry when she thought no one was watching. He heard the small half-muffled sobs from her room whenever he crept downstairs for a midnight snack. He could see the sadness and despair that entered her eyes whenever she wasn't busy doing something or helping someone. He understood. He knew the look in her eyes. It was the same one that he saw every time he looked in a mirror. And he cried too. Every night he looked across their cluttered room to Fred's bed, every night the bed was empty, and every night he realized that it would always remain empty. And in that moment, George would break down. Any tears that he had been holding back during the day flooded his eyes, and it was all he could do to hold back his loudest sobs so as not to wake or worry the rest of the family.

But during the day, the whole family was coping. George's mum was prone to going 'round and giving the whole family hugs in turn, telling them that they would all be okay. George hoped both that someday he could believe what she said and that someday his mum could too.

As George sat on the sofa, he had a sudden urge to do something. He wanted to go throw himself into a project… he… he wanted to work. George immediately scratched off the idea. He couldn't do anything for the joke shop by himself, and there wasn't anyone else who he could work with. The only real candidate would have been Lee, but Lee had just begun working for Kingsley at the ministry, in addition to his new part time job as a quidditch announcer for the British and Irish League. He hadn't started announcing yet, but he would in a few weeks. Alicia was proud of him, both doing what he loved and helping to repair the wizarding world with Kingsley. Or at least Angelina had told George that Alicia was proud of Lee. George hadn't actually seen either Lee or Alicia since their meeting right after the battle. Lee was busy at the Ministry, and Alicia had resumed her Healer training, which she had taken leave from as soon as muggleborns had started being rounded up. Alicia's mother was muggleborn, so Alicia had had to help move her parents, as well as her younger brother, to a safer place. Alicia, for her part, had stayed with Angelina in their small flat, and the two capable witches, plus Lee when he had to stay there, had protected each other.

George's next option was Angelina, but she was out too. She was currently a reserve for the Holyhead Harpies, but, with one of the older chasers retiring from quidditch soon, it looked as though Angelina was going to have a permanent spot on the team. It was what Angelina, his old Quidditch Captain, had always dreamed of. Then he realized with a pang that he wasn't going to be able to see Angelina as much if she was an official Harpy team member. Even with her just as a reserve, he shouldn't have been able to see her every day like he had been for the past week. But, as luck would have it, the whole British and Irish League was currently suspended, partly due to celebration of the death of You-Know-Who and the end of the war and partly out of respect for the fallen. The confusion and chaos of the past eight or so months had almost permanently stopped all Quidditch in Britain; there hadn't been a single official match since before the Ministry fell.

Though George knew that Angelina wouldn't be able to work with him, he knew that she was the one with whom to discuss reopening the joke shop. He glanced at the clock (the actual clock, not his mother's special one that kept tabs on all the Weasleys; that one was in the kitchen) and saw that it was just after one. Angelina normally arrived a bit after lunch, so he got up and walked out into the garden to wait for her. Not five minutes later, Angelina apparated at the Burrow's front gate.

"George!" she called warmly as the opened the gate and walked toward him, "how's everything?"

"Not bad," he replied as she reached him.

Angelina smiled and pulled him into a tight hug. "Good." George savored the moment with his friend. Angelina always made him feel so much better.

"Actually," George started as she released him, "I've been pretty bored today."

"Bored? Here at the Burrow? How?" She sarcastically gestured at the hen house and the gnome-infested garden as if they were wildly entertaining and George was crazy not to think so. George laughed, and Angelina joined in.

"Really it makes sense though, doesn't it?" Angelina continued, more seriously, "You're used to excitement! Not this monotony." She laughed again. "I feel like that too, come to think of it," she added thoughtfully. "The highlight of my day is coming here, and not that you aren't great and interesting and everything, but I would like more adventure."

"I'm not fascinating enough for you, Miss Johnson? I am offended!"George placed his hand on his chest as though he was scandalized.

"Shut it, Weasley." Angelina playfully slapped him on the arm.

George laughed, but then became more serious.

"I wanted to talk to you," he began, "about the joke shop."

Angelina nodded as though she had expected this. "You're bored, and so, naturally, you want to get back to work. It's a great idea; you need something to do."

"But Angelina… that's the thing, I can't."

"George, I know you, and I know you can. You need to go back. Fred wouldn't want you to keep the shop closed. You have to do this."

"But… even if I could, I do need someone to help me. I could never run it alone, or I can't do it alone right now at least. And there really isn't anyone who can now. Lee's busy. Alicia's busy. You'll be busy pretty soon."

Angelina looked thoughtful for a moment. "What about one of your siblings?"

George shook his head. "Bill's back at Gringotts already, trying to liaise with the goblins and fix what the Death Eaters destroyed. Charlie left a few days ago to get back to Romania because he missed the dragons so much. Percy's always at the Ministry, and when he's not there, Mum needs him here. Ginny's back at school. Ron… well I don't see Ron too much. He's with Harry and Hermione all the time. But Harry's starting Auror training next week, even though he never did his NEWTS. He's getting special training for a month to make sure he's ready to start official training with the other Auror candidates this summer. And knowing Ron, I expect he'll do something like that too. He's going to go with Harry and help him no matter what." George laughed.

"What's Hermione been doing?" Angelina asked, merely out of curiosity, since no one really could ever see Hermione working at the joke shop.

"She's been studying. What else would Hermione do?" George laughed again. "She's trying to make up for her lost year of school. But she's also been spending time with her parents. They're still a little confused from their memory charm, but they're safe and sound. She spends her mornings there, comes here for lunch, and leaves around dinner."

Angelina nodded solemnly. She knew that Hermione had gone to great lengths to protect her parents, and she was glad that everything was okay.

George continued, "but anyway, Hermione said she wanted to find a job in the Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures whenever she's all caught up. She's still on about house elf rights." George shook his head.

"You know," Angelina responded, "Hermione might be right about elf rights. People really should treat them better. Don't you remember during the battle when they charged up from the kitchens to fight the Death Eaters? They were brilliant! They deserve some recognition for that!"

"Merlin, not you too." George threw up his hands in mock frustration.

Angelina laughed. "I'm serious!"

"Well then go find Miss Elf Rights inside, and you two can have a right chat about how we wizards mistreat the house elves who LIKE working for us."

"Okay then, I WILL!" Angelina stomped off toward the house, but then turned around laughing. "Come on George, we need to figure out who can help you at the joke shop, and I want to talk to your Mum."

George smiled, and the pair walked inside.

George's mother was in the kitchen, busily setting the family's dishes from lunch to wash themselves in the sink.

"Hello, Mrs. Weasley!" greeted Angelina brightly.

"Angelina! Good to see you dear! How are you?" George's mother replied warmly.

"Quite well, and you?"

"Holding up, dear." George's mom offered a sad smile. Angela walked over to her and gave a quick hug.

"It'll all be okay, Mrs. Weasley," Angelina assured her.

"I hope you're right." George's mother liked Angelina a great deal, but more than anything, she liked how much better Angelina made George feel through this hardship.

Just then, Ron and Hermione walked in from the sitting room.

"Angelina!" Hermione exclaimed happily, running over to give her friend a hug. "What have you been up to?"

"Nothing really," Angelina replied with a laugh. "I get up, eat breakfast with Alicia, she goes off to healer training, then I meet up with family or friends for a few hours, get lunch, and come here. Not terribly interesting. I want to get back on the quidditch pitch!"

George and Ron both laughed at this.

"You and me both, Angelina," Ron said longingly, "at least you have a spot on an actual team though."

"True. I guess I can't complain," said Angelina with a sympathetic glance toward Ron.

"Well why don't we have a game in the orchard later?" George suggested, excitedly. "You two against me and Fr-" George stopped. He'd forgotten for a moment… He couldn't play quidditch. Not without Fred.

George's mum exchanged glances with Angelina, as George looked at the ground. "I… I need a minute. I'll be in the sitting room."

Angelina and his mother nodded seriously at him. Ron and Hermione in the corner just looked sad.

George left the kitchen and went to the sitting room sofa where he had spent much of his morning and early afternoon. He couldn't believe that he had let that happen. Everything had been so nice, just talking about house elves and quidditch. But one little thought had ruined everything. George missed his twin so much. Fred was irreplaceable. The hole George invariably felt inside himself felt bigger than ever. It was as though half of his heart and half of his soul were gone. _I can't play quidditch again, _he resolved, _and I can't reopen the joke shop. It would just be too hard._

George heard footsteps, and he looked up, expecting to see Angelina or his mother. Instead hid dad stood there dressed in a traveling cloak, still carrying his briefcase.

"Hello, George," his dad said smiling, "you mind if I sit down?"

George shook his head, and his father took a seat in his favorite armchair.

"Did you just get home? It's so early" George was curious. In the past his dad would rarely get home for dinner. Sometimes he barely made it in time for breakfast. Of course, his dad had been promoted just a few days ago to a high up position in the Muggle Liaison office. George had never seen his father happier to go to work. It was what his dad had always dreamed of.

His father laughed. "Yes, as a matter of fact I did just get home. It's this new job! I have wonderful hours! I get to come home early some days. I suppose it's all Kingsley's doing. One of the many benefits to being good friends with the Minister of Magic." He laughed again, but then amended his statement. "Kingsley's helping out everyone though. Now that the Death Eaters are all either arrested or on the run, he's had to hire lots of new people to fill their old positions, plus he's giving those of us who've been going through a rough patch, more time to spend with our families. I couldn't thank him enough. He's doing so much for us, but that poor man's going through a lot himself. He lost some of his closest friends." George's father looked sad for a moment, but then he shook his head. "Well, we'll have to have him 'round for dinner in the coming week." He nodded to himself, seeming to will himself to remember to ask his wife about it later. Then, remembering that he was talking to George, he continued, "and, obviously, he's taken down the Muggle-Born Registration committee and sent that hag, Umbridge, to Azkaban."

"Fantastic!" George couldn't stop himself from cheering. Umbridge had physically abused Harry, Lee, and countless other students. The only good things he and Fred had gotten out of their seventh year at Hogwarts were valuable research for the joke shop and a legacy as two of the greatest pranksters in Hogwarts history. Right before the battle, George and Fred had stopped by the corridor that they had turned into a swamp their seventh year, just to see the small piece that Flitwick had left roped off. George hoped that the battle hadn't disturbed it. That patch of swamp was hopefully now a lasting tribute both to the pranking ability of the Weasley twins and to Fred's memory.

George's dad smiled. "So how's your day been? Mum said you were having a bit of a rough time."

George shrugged. "It hasn't been too bad. Just sometimes… Everything just hits me all over again, and I can't deal with it."

George's father nodded. "I understand. We're all going through the same thing right now. Trust me."

"I know. I'm glad I have you guys."

George's dad stood up and patted George on the back. "We're glad we have you too. Now I'm going to go talk to your mother."

George nodded, and his father returned to the kitchen. He could hear Ron and Hermione talking to Angelina, who sounded excited. His father's voice joined Angelina, Ron, and Hermione's, and almost instantly Angelina and his brother entered the sitting room, with Hermione following close behind. Ron looked happy and agreeable, and Angelina, positively excited.

"George!" she said, grinning widely, "I found someone to help you at the joke shop!"

"Really?" George said, excitedly, before he could help himself. He had_ just_ told himself that he could never go back to the joke shop, but somehow the possibility of him actually being able to go back sounded… amazing.

"Yeah!" Angelina seemed pleased that George was so excited. "Ron said he's love to help you!" She smiled at George's younger brother who turned and grinned at George.

George was confused for a moment. Ron? Work at the shop? With him?

"Really," Ron said, nodding, "I would love to help out. I'm not read to follow Harry into the Auror office, and that's really the only place at the Ministry I've ever considered. And I don't want to keep studying like Hermione." Ron motioned to his girlfriend who was shaking her head good-naturedly behind him. "And you need some help. Really George, I'd love to do this. I need something to take my mind of things too."

George simply stared at his brother. If he had Ron… maybe he could do this… It wouldn't be the same as before, but… maybe it could work. Suddenly an enormous smile grew on George's face.

"Excellent!" George exclaimed suddenly. "I think… I think I can do this." He stopped and corrected himself. "I think _we_ can do this." He grinned up at his younger brother.

Ron smiled back at George. "Brilliant! When do you want to reopen the shop?"

George instantly became his old businessman self. "Well, let's see. How about in a week or so? We'll need to dust off the shelves, restock, and most importantly, advertise. "

Ron nodded. "Definitely. You'll really rake in the galleons if there's a big grand reopening event."

George shook his head at Ron. "You mean _we_'ll really rake in the galleons," he corrected. "We're partners now, right?"

Ron laughed. "Yeah, partners!"

The brothers began to discuss the shop and what needed to be done before they could reopen it. They decided to start advertising the event in the Daily Prophet, which was no longer the muggle-hating rag it had been for the past year. George said he would take Ron to the shop the next day to start teaching him where everything was and how to handle customers. Ron seemed extremely willing to help out, far more willing than he had ever been before. George suspected that something had happened to Ron on the trio's journey this past year that had caused this attitude change.

Hermione seemed to know Ron had changed too. Anytime George glanced over at Hermione, she was smiling at Ron, her face glowing with pride. Ron kept glancing up at her too, an elated expression on his face. George realized they must have been through so much together, so he resolved not to tease them about their new relationship… very much. George still needed a little fun.

Ron and Hermione decided they needed to tell the Weasley parents the good news, and they were about to head into the kitchen when Angelina stopped them. "Wait. One more thing. We still have a good amount of daylight left. We're playing quidditch. Hermione and I against you two boys."

Ron laughed, but George stopped smiling. Once again, this was something that he had told himself he would never do again.

"Come on George!" Ron pleaded. "You've got to miss it as much as I do! We need you to play!"

George looked down, took a deep breath, looked back up, and smiled. "Okay. It's on. We'll see how good you are, Harpy," he teased Angelina.

"Unfortunately for you, I've gotten better." Angelina laughed and turned to Ron and Hermione. "We'll meet in the orchard in fifteen minutes. You Weasley boys are going down."

"Not a chance," replied Ron, as he and Hermione walked into the kitchen.

Angelina turned to George. "I'm so proud of you."

George shook his head. "I told myself that I would never reopen the joke shop or play quidditch… but I've definitely just agreed to do both. I guess that's you're fault. I suppose I have to thank you. You're pretty amazing, Miss Johnson. "

"You're pretty great yourself, Mr. Weasley." Angelina laughed. "Merlin, Fred would be so excited!"

Instantly George's face fell, and his mind was clouded with thoughts. Reopening the joke shop with Ron… that was like he was replacing Fred. The thought made George sick to his stomach. He looked down at his feet and put his head in his hands.

He heard Angelina give a loud sigh, so he looked up. She glanced at George, and he could see she was distraught.

"What is it?" George asked his friend.

"You!" she said exasperatedly. "You're so serious. Most of the time you're your usual self, but then you get serious and sullen, and I hate it George; I absolutely despise it!" She raised her voice and George looked shocked. Angelina didn't talk this way. Ever. She continued, "Everyday we do the same things. Everyday we have the same thoughts. You'll be so happy, and then, in an instant, something else gets in your head, and you become this serious person who isn't you. I know this is hard, and I know you're coping with everything as best you can. I'm not blaming you. I'm blaming the war. I'm blaming You-Know-Who. He's ripped us all apart. He's taken half the life out of you. I love coming here to see you because I love being with you, but not when you're so serious. I love seeing you when you're happy and you're yourself. It gives me hope and lets me know that we can heal, but then something happens, and it's gone." Angelina's voice was quiet now. "What I want, more than anything, is for that happiness to stay. To stay in you, and in me, and in everyone. I miss it so much. Every single day."

Angelina broke down, crying like she had right after the battle. George got up and moved toward her, wrapping her arms around her in a tight embrace. "Angelina… " George murmured to her through her tears, "Angelina, I miss it too. I miss Fred. I miss everything. I'm sorry. I try as hard as I can, you know that."

She nodded into him, and then broke away to dry her tears. "I know. I know. I feel the same way you do. But I want to be able to talk about him without either of us falling apart. I need for us to talk about him. I need for us to be happy when we talk about him."

George hugged her again, quickly. "I need that too."

When they broke apart again, Angelina was smiling. "Well, we should go. I have a quidditch game to win, don't I?"

George laughed. "In your dreams, Johnson."

Angelina stepped over and kissed George on the cheek. "I'm going to go find Ron and Hermione and figure out the broomstick situation. You, meet us out there when you're ready to lose." She laughed and then practically skipped out the door and down to the orchard.

George stood in the middle of the room and reached his hand up to where Angelina had kissed him. There was something special about that girl. He didn't understand why she had such a profound effect on him. She could make him feel better about Fred. She could get him to play quidditch and reopen the shop. She could help him face all the things he could never do by himself. All of his friends and family were helping him through this, but only when he was with Angelina did he feel truly comforted. George shook his head. He'd figure it out eventually.

From where he was standing, George could see the trees in the distant orchard blowing in the wind. As George started out the door after Angelina, he looked up to wherever he presumed Fred was now, smiled, and said quietly, "this game's for you Freddy. We're gonna win this."

George's mum, standing at the doorway from the sitting room to the kitchen, heard what he said and saw him smile. She knew then that eventually he was going to be okay. And if George was okay, she knew they all would be. Some day.

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><p><em>AN: I hope you guys liked it! PLEASE leave a review! It would mean the world to me! Thanks for reading!_


	3. Almost Perfect

_A/N: Less than a year to update this time? Success! Of course I'll try to be even quicker updating next time, but this is progress. School starts for me in less than a week though, so we'll see what happens._

_Anyway, I had the beginning of this chapter written maybe 3 or 4 different ways, but in the end I combined bits of all of them, and this is what happened. This chapter's less, I guess, internal than the past two. There's a lot of conversation and retelling of the the trio's adventures, but I feel like it's necessary. Plus, it's a more in depth look at Ron and Hermione's relationship, which I think is important for George to know more about. I love the George/Ron friendship and brotherhood that I feel would blossom when George loses Fred, and I hope I conveyed that well here._

_But anyway, I'm going to stop analyzing everything. I hope you all like it! Thanks to everyone who's read it and given me feedback!_

* * *

><p>George was in the sitting room with Angelina, Ron, and Hermione. It was evening, and what's more, George was smiling; he was happy. For hours he'd been this way: really and truly happy. The Weasley brothers were still bragging to Angelina about their earlier Quidditch victory. They didn't bother Hermione about it though, as she was, admittedly, bad at Quidditch. It had been an accomplishment for her merely to stay on her broom for the entire match. Ron was proud. He'd tried to help her as much as he could during the game. In fact, he'd tried to help her so much that even Angelina had had to yell at him to bugger off and play for his own team. George could clearly see how much Ron and Hermione loved each other, and George was really happy for both of them. They were a light in the darkness that had befallen the Weasley family. George was grateful that something genuinely good had happened during the battle.<p>

The Quidditch match had not been a source of sadness for George for longer than the ten seconds he contemplated his broom when Angelina handed it to him. George and Fred had had identical brooms, – only the twins and any members of their House Quidditch teams knew the difference between them – and for George, the sight of his own broom quickly reminded him of that of his twin. Angelina had been quick to pick up on the slight drop of George's smile, and she almost instantly called out to George and began the game.

Besides this ten-second period where George was consumed by thoughts of Fred, the match had been the most fun George had had since the Battle. It was almost therapeutic, flying. The air rushing through his hair, the feel of the broom handle under his fingers: George had missed it.

After the match, the four had trudged back inside, all either elated, defeated, or just happy to be back on solid ground. George's mum had been just finishing dinner when the bunch walked in, and so, naturally, she had asked Angelina and Hermione to stay for dinner. Both girls had accepted, with Hermione going off to owl her parents to inform them that she was staying at the Weasley's for dinner.

George's father had joined them for dinner, as had a very happy and animated Percy, just home from work. This Percy was a far cry from the Ministry-loving prat of the past few years, and even a good deal different than the cauldron-bottom obsessed brother George had had during the twin's sixth year. Percy still loved to discuss the goings on of the Ministry, but now he cared more about the important things - family, peace, truth – and less about the ones that didn't really matter: – position, power, leaky cauldrons – all the things that had occupied his attention in the years after he'd left Hogwarts. George's parents were thrilled to have their third son back, and family dinner now was much brighter than it would have been without Percy.

As the Weasleys, plus two friends, ate dinner, George had looked around the table, and, for the fist time in ages, despite half of his family not being there, he felt almost whole. George couldn't help but smile. Angelina, as usual, had seen his joyful expression, and she grinned happily back at her friend.

After dinner, George and Ron finally stopped teasing Angelina, and the Quidditch players, plus Hermione, had ended up in the sitting room talking.

"Hermione," Angelina began, "I was talking to George earlier about house-elves—"

Instantly she was cut off by simultaneous groans from George and Ron.

Hermione looked at Ron sharply, as though he was contradicting himself in some way. George was confused. He couldn't recall Ron ever saying anything that implied that he approved of Hermione's quest for elf rights. George realized that something must have happened while Ron and Hermione were off on their journey with Harry that had changed Ron's opinion of house-elves. Or at least had changed Hermione's perception of Ron's opinion of house-elves. _There must be a story there_ thought George.

Ron looked away from Hermione sheepishly as he tried to explain. "I'm not saying house-elves aren't good or that they don't deserve to have decent lives or anything. I just think they _like_ serving us, so we don't need to worry about them."

Hermione looked as though she might slap him. Ron put up his hands to defend himself, if only from the glare she was giving him. "Just listen," he continued, "I don't think they should be mistreated or they should be made to punish themselves or anything. We just don't need to go overboard helping them. Come on Hermione, you know I think they should be protected from harm, evacuated if need be." Ron lowered his hands and offered Hermione a knowing smile while his ears turned bright red. Hermione, in response, turned faintly pink, her expression softening.

George and Angelina exchanged confused glances. _Okay,_ thought George, _there is _definitely_ a story here,_ and he immediately made a mental note to ask Ron about it later.

George took it upon himself to change the subject. "So, Ron, Hermione," he started, causing the couple stop staring at each other and pay attention to the conversation, "we never really heard what happened on your little adventure with Harry, and I, for one, would rather like to know what happened." Angelina quickly nodded her agreement.

Ron sighed thoughtfully, with a quick glance toward Hermione. "Well… it was pretty eventful," he began. "Or parts of it were," Ron amended his statement with a quiet laugh.

Seeing George and Angelina's confused looks at Ron, Hermione clarified. "We spent an awful lot of time camping. We've probably been to every forest in Britain." She shook her head, smiling. "It doesn't sound too bad now, but at the time it was pretty depressing. We didn't know what we were doing, we didn't have enough food, and we had a hard time keeping our spirits up, even without the stupid—" Hermione stopped herself, and she and Ron exchanged glances.

"The stupid what?" asked Angelina curiously.

"Never mind," Ron cut in. "It doesn't matter."

Once again, George and Angelina looked at each other, confused.

Clearly wanting to draw attention away from what Hermione had said, Ron began talking again. "Yeah, the camping was pretty bad, but we did some pretty cool stuff, looking back on it. We broke into the Ministry using Puking Pastilles and Polyjuice Potion."

George grinned proudly at the mention of the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes sweet.

"Why'd you need to get into the Ministry?" Angelina questioned.

"Umbridge had something we needed. Something to help us defeat Voldemort." Hermione answered evasively, but Angelina and George knew now not the press Ron and Hermione for information.

"Well, did it work?" asked George.

"Somehow, it did actually. And we helped a bunch of muggle-borns escape too," said Ron, proudly.

"But," Hermione interrupted, "we did let Yaxley into Grimmauld Place."

Ron's face fell a little, and George frowned. Death Eaters in Grimmauld Place. The thought was unnerving. george knew neither Harry nor Sirius would have been too thrilled about Death Eaters invading the house.

"What's Grimmauld Place?" Angelina was glancing from George to Ron to Hermione in rapid succession, evidently unsure of why Ron and George cared about whatever it was Hermione was taking about.

"Oh," Hermione explained, "it was Sirius Black's house. Harry's house now actually, as Sirius left it to him."

Angelina still looked a little puzzled, so George turned to her and quietly said he'd tell her more about it later. Then he turned to Ron and Hermione. "Keep going! What else did you do?"

Ron thought for a moment. "Well, we visited Xenophilius Lovegood's house. He's a nutter if ever there was one. He tried to get us captured by Death Eaters. I mean, they took Luna from him, but still. He could have at least tried to help. But then, oh yeah, we got caught by a bunch of Snatchers, Death Eaters really: Greyback was with them." Ron glared at the ground at the thought of his oldest brother's attacker from the previous year. George, naturally, had a similar reaction.

Hermione stroked Ron's arm gently to calm him as she took over the story. "They took us to Malfoy Manor because they thought Harry might have been Harry. They couldn't tell for sure since I'd hexed him so his face swelled up. The Snatchers weren't really able to see his scar."

"That's really quick thinking, Hermione." Angelina grinned.

"Quick thinking? It was bloody brilliant." Ron exclaimed staring admiringly at Hermione, who blushed slightly.

"Well, anyway," Hermione continued with a small smile, "they took us to Malfoy Manor even though they weren't sure, partly because they thought they might have recognized me, partly because they knew Ron was a Weasley, but mostly because if it was me, and that Weasley was Ron, then the third one of us had to be Harry, and Harry had a ten thousand galleon price on his head. But we got to the Manor and they tried to get Draco to help identify us –"

George snarled at the ground, while Ron rolled his eyes and scoffed.

Hermione held up her hands to stop the brothers. "Draco actually didn't do a thing," she began to explain to George. "I'm sure he recognized us, but he didn't give us away. He was scared to death with his family all around expecting him to give us away, and he just stayed out of it. I mean, I don't like him, but I can't hate him either."

Predictably, Ron argued with this assessment. "So what if he didn't give us away? Fat lot of good that did us! And then during the Battle, we saved his life, twice, mind you, and how does he repay us? He's a bloody coward who goes back to the Death Eaters and begs, 'I'm on your side!' It's disgusting." Ron sneered in disgust, and George nodded his agreement.

Hermione was about to make an angry retort when Angelina interrupted. "Guys, come on. Does it really matter what you all think of Draco Malfoy? Is he really something to fight over?" Ron and Hermione stared at the ground sheepishly. "I thought so." Angelina looked smug. "Now Hermione, keep going."

Hermione calmed herself. "Yes, well, Draco didn't identify us, but Lucius Malfoy decided he did. But then they saw we had the sword of Godric Gryffindor, which I'm not going to explain to you at all because that's a terribly long story, and I don't want to go into it," Hermione said hurriedly, "but basically it was supposed to be in the Lestrange's Gringotts vault, but we had it. Bellatrix was worried, and so she decided to…" Hermione broke off and looked down, clearly upset.

Ron put his arm around her shoulders comfortingly. "Bellatrix tortured her. They locked Harry and I in the basement, and that monster tortured her." Ron was growing angry just saying the words. "And I couldn't help her." Ron was now talking more to himself than to George or Angelina.

"You did help me though," said Hermione looking up at her boyfriend. "I could hear you screaming my name, and it helped. I knew I had to survive; I knew I _could_ survive, for you."

Ron embraced his girlfriend, and they cried quietly together for a moment, with Ron whispering comfortingly in Hermione's ear.

Angelina coughed subtly, breaking the couple apart. 'I'm really proud of you two," she smiled, "but how did you guys get out of there? The suspense is killing me."

The four friends laughed, but Ron and Hermione's faces fell. "It was Dobby," said Ron solemnly. "He got us all out of there, and he took us to Bill and Fleur's, safe and sound. But… Dobby wasn't so lucky. Bellatrix threw a knife at him, and he… he…" Ron looked at the ground.

"Dobby? The mad little house elf that went and saw Harry to warn him about the Chamber of Secrets? The one that worked at Hogwarts after he'd been freed? Why was he there?" George asked, confused.

Hermione answered him, "Aberforth sent him to us. Thank Merlin he did too, or we probably wouldn't be here now. But he was so good… he didn't deserve that…" She stared at the ground too.

George thought of Fred. "No one deserved to die in this war." He spoke deliberately, checking his emotions. "Not Dobby, not Lupin or Tonks, not Sirius, not Dumbledore, not… Fred." George had to stop. Angelina rubbed his arm to let him know she was there for him. He didn't burst into tears or leave the room this time though. He sighed deeply and looked up to face Angelina, Hermione, and Ron who were looking at him with sadness and concern etched into their faces. He took another shuddering breath and forced his mouth into a smile. "So you went to Bill and Fleur's?"

Hermione was a little surprised at George's quick recovery, especially after George's breakdown earlier, but she took it in stride and continued after only the briefest pause. "Yes, they were pretty surprised to see us there. I didn't look so good, Ron wouldn't answer questions, and Harry had poor Dobby, plus we'd picked up a goblin, Luna, Ollivander, and Dean by that time too."

"Ollivander? The wandmaker? And Luna and Dean? What?" Angelina wasn't having the easiest time following Ron and Hermione's adventures.

"Yeah." Hermione laughed good naturedly at Angelina's confusion. "Ollivander and Luna were imprisoned in the Malfoy's basement, and Dean and the goblin were with the Snatchers when they got us."

Angelina nodded her understanding.

"Well, after we got to Shell Cottage," Hermione continued, "we couldn't really tell Bill and Fleur anything, which annoyed them both quiet a bit, but we left soon enough. Then we broke into Gringotts."

"I heard about that!" George exclaimed excitedly. "Then you escaped on a dragon, right?"

The couple nodded, Hermione, incredulously, as though she still couldn't quite believe they'd actually done that, and Ron, excitedly, as though it had been brilliant.

"It'll be a great story to tell the grandkids," Ron laughed, nudging Hermione, who smiled into her lap.

"I would ask you why you had to break into Gringotts, but I don't suppose you can really tell me that can you?" Angelina laughed.

"Yeah... We can't really say anything." Hermione half-smiled apologetically. "There was something we had to get from the Lestrange's vault, so that's what we did."

"And then we went to Hogsmeade, met Aberforth, got into the castle, went to the Chamber of Secrets, and then it was the Battle, and that's it." Ron finished lamely.

"Wait… you went to the Chamber of Secrets?" Angelina asked, half in awe and half confused. "How did you know how to get there? And what was down there that was so important?"

Ron laughed. "Well we needed basilisk fangs, don't ask, and I'd gone there with Harry and that nutter Lockhart in our second year, so I knew how to get in. As for actually getting in, you know Harry can speak Parseltongue, I just imitated him, and it opened for me."

"It was absolutely brilliant!" Hermione gave Ron the same admiring look he'd given her earlier. Ron looked very pleased.

George and Angelina smiled at the couple. "Anything else interesting happen?" George asked.

Ron looked sheepishly at Hermione who shook her head. "Not really. Oh, well, Harry and I almost got killed by Voldemort's giant snake in Godric's Hollow, but other than that…"

"Getting almost killed by a giant snake doesn't really count as anything? Really?" George looked at Hermione incredulously.

Hermione laughed. "Well, we got away fine, except Harry's wand broke. He fixed it later though, so really it's not too big a deal."

Angelina, however, looked thoughtful. "You said you and Harry almost got killed, but what about Ron?"

Ron shrunk back in his seat. He seemed to be disappointed with himself.

Hermione, conversely, sat up higher in her seat, and offered Ron a loving glance. "Ron wasn't there." She ended it at that and was clearly not leaving any room for questions. Ron looked at her gratefully. George made another mental note to ask Ron about this at some point in the future too.

During the slightly awkward silence that followed, Angelina looked up at the clock. "Merlin! It's getting late! Alicia will be wondering where I am. I should get home."

Hermione, following Angelina's lead, glanced up at the clock, and she, too, was shocked by how late it had gotten. "My parents are probably getting worried! I meant to leave ages ago. I have to go too."

The four friends stood up and made their way from the sitting room through the kitchen and out to the yard where Angelina and Hermione could apparate home.

When they reached the gate, Hermione stopped, quickly hugged Angelina and George, and turned to say goodbye to Ron. Angelina and George politely looked away from the couple and instead said their own goodbyes.

"So I'll see you tomorrow, Weasley?" Angelina asked in a jovial tone.

"I guess so," George answered, with mock-annoyance, looking up and smiling quickly to assure Angelina that he'd been joking, though she'd already known he was.

"Wait…" she said suddenly, "you're going to work on the joke shop with Ron tomorrow though, aren't you?"

"Oh yeah." George had almost forgotten. "Er… well come in the evening tomorrow instead of the afternoon. Ron and I'll be finished for the day by then. You can stay for dinner, of course."

Angelina smiled. "Alright then. It's settled."

George grinned widely at Angelina for a moment. Suddenly he realized that he needed to thank her for today. It had been the best day he'd had in a while, and it was all Angelina's doing. He wanted to thank her; no, he needed to thank her.

"Angelina," he started, emotion evident in his voice, "I just need… to thank you. For today. For everything. I owe you so much. I…" George couldn't say anymore.

Angelina understood. She stepped closer to her ginger-haired friend and enveloped him in a hug. "You're welcome," she whispered, "and thank you for today too. I had so much fun with you; today's been almost perfect."

George pulled away. "Almost perfect?" he asked, his eyebrows raised, an amused expression playing on his face.

Angelina's lips curved into a joking smile. "Almost."

At this, she turned to Hermione and Ron and hugged them both. After facing George again and kissing his cheek quickly, Angelina he took a step back and turned on the spot. With a crack, she was gone.

Hermione apparated away moments later, after a last wave to George and a last kiss for Ron, leaving the Weasley brothers alone in the yard.

"So it's been a pretty fun day, hasn't it little bro?" George grinned at his younger brother.

Ron nodded, looking a little dazed from Hermione's last kiss.

George shook his head at his brother as the two walked back inside to the sitting room.

"I think I'll head up to bed," Ron called, stifling a yawn as he walked to the stairs. "Night, George!"

"Night, Ron! Remember, we're heading to the joke shop bright and early tomorrow morning!" George laughed.

Ron chuckled in response. "I remember. Night!" he called as he walked up to his room at the very top of the house.

George looked around the empty sitting room thinking about what he had been doing only half a day ago. He'd been brooding. He was afraid of his own joke shop. He hadn't even thought about Quidditch in days. George shook his head. He'd come a long way today. _It's all Angelina,_ he thought to himself for seemingly the millionth time, _there's something about that girl._ Again George shook his head as he walked up to his room.

Outside his parents' room, George stopped to listen at the door. For the past week, he'd stopped here every night, and every night he'd heard his mum crying. But as George listened at his parent's door he heard something different: his mother was laughing. George stared at the door as if it was lying, but the sound behind it was quite clear. His mum was laughing at something his dad was saying. It was just like before the Battle. Slowly a smile arrived on George's face, and he crept away from his parents' door up to his room.

As George got ready to go to sleep, the sound of his mother's laughter kept floating back into his head: it was such a beautiful noise. He was so happy for her. He knew she'd been hurting, but this was a sign. She was healing. They all were healing.

George got into his bed as he looked across the room to the bed opposite his own. For the past week, the sight of Fred's empty bed had been too much for George, but on this night George thought about was his mother's laughter instead. Her laughter helped to fill the void George always felt when he looked at the place where his twin had slept. But even as he though of his mum, thoughts of Fred floated back into his head, and George took a shuttering breath.

All of a sudden, George had an idea. Maybe it could help… He took a deep breath, looked up at the ceiling, and began speaking in a soft voice, just above a whisper. "Hey Fred. It's George. Well I guess you already know that. Er… I miss you. A lot. It's weird down here without you. You have no idea how different everything is now. Well maybe you do. I'm not sure you can even hear me. But I think you can." George, realizing he was starting to ramble a bit, switched over to an actual topic. "I played Quidditch today. First time in ages! The wind was perfect, and it was almost like being back on the actual Quidditch pitch. Only with apples instead of balls. And no snitch. You would have loved it. You always did love it. Ron and I destroyed Angelina. She's so high and mighty since she's on the Harpies, but Ron and I got her. It was brilliant!" George stopped sharply as tears started to well up in his eyes and run down his face. He smiled sadly at the memory of the Quidditch victory: his victory without Fred.

Despite the tears dripping down his face, George continued, "And then there's the joke shop. We're reopening it in a week. Ron's helping me. I would have never thought of him to help out, but he's really excited. Angelina asked him if he'd like to, and he said he would. We'll start tomorrow, and there'll be a big reopening event. It'll be huge! I couldn't do it without Ron though. He's being really helpful now, probably just showing off for Hermione. Did you know they're together? I won the bet! They got together _right_ after they'd seen us, but it was still after! The next time I see you, you owe me ten galleons." George began crying openly, taking care that he wasn't getting too loud.

"But I just want you to know that even though Ron's my partner now, I'm not replacing you. I could never, ever replace you. You're my other half Freddy; I can't bear not having you here. The only reason I'm doing okay at all is Angelina: she's a miracle worker, that girl. The best friend I could ever have. Besides you, obviously." George laughed through his tears.

"Mum's doing okay too, actually. I heard her laugh about fifteen minutes ago. She never laughs anymore." Immediately George realized it sounded bitter, as though he was mad at Fred for his mother's sadness. Quickly, he clarified his statement. "I'm not blaming you, Freddy. It's not your fault you had to… go." George couldn't bring himself to say plainly that Fred had died, particularly as he was talking to his departed brother. "Percy told me, by the way, that you were laughing... when it happened. It's fitting. Very fitting." George paused for a moment, gauging his next words.

"Fred," he said finally, "I miss you. More than anything. Every second I feel like there's this hole inside me where you should be, and I don't know how to fix it. You're my brother. My best friend. I don't know if I can deal with this. But I try, every day, for you. I know you wouldn't want me to be sad like this. You'd tell me I was a Weasley twin and that I should smile and laugh and enjoy myself. Hopefully I'll be able to, but it's hard. It is nice to talk to you, even though you can't say anything back really." George had stopped crying, and he wiped the tears from his face.

"Well, I should sleep. I have a joke shop to fix up in the morning." He laughed. "I'll talk to you tomorrow. I miss you, Fred. Goodnight." George waited for a moment, as if expecting to hear a response, but there was only silence.

With a sigh, George slipped under the covers, and, within a few minutes, he was fast asleep.

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><p><em>AN: I hope you liked it! Please leave a review!_


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